Couldn’t see that this had been mentioned yet, but Co Do games areapparently looking for linux users to beta test their new game Laser SquadNemesis. Since it is being done by Julian Gollop (of X-Com fame) it shouldbe interesting.

Thanks to Chuckles for letting us know thatSlashdot linkeda petitionfrom TA Forver which asksCavedog Entertainment to open the source code toTotal Annihilation, a classic RTS game.Although petitions usually aren’t terribly successful (a notable exception being thePS2 Linuxpetition effort), several old commercial games have had their source released under relatively open licenses over the years:

Abuse

Wolfenstein 3-D

DOOM

Heretic

Hexen

Hexen 2

BUILD Engine (not really a game, but hey :) )

Quake

Quake 2

Aliens vs. Predator

…and probably more I’m forgetting. I also recall an open effort to reverse-engineer TA, but I’m not aware of itscurrent status.

UnknownPlayer.com has posted an interview with the creator of Uplink, Chris Delay. The interview covers Introversion Software, the history of Uplink, the success of the game thus far, and the possibility of a sequel.

MatthewJG wrote in to note that he emailed the Kyro developers at PowerVR, and was pointed towards some additional information that has been released. The most interesting bit is the announcement of a public beta program to begin in February 2002. Also worth mentioning is that the driver will use the DRI. The developers went on to state that, instead of emailing them, interested parties should check the following sites:

As Funcom has previously stated, the decision to make a Linux Anarchy Online client was to be “reevaluated after the release of the Windows clients.” Well, the reevaluation has been completed and the port has been (unsurprisingly) axed. In their official announcement they state the reason to be “not enough users to support the addition.”

Mark Hughes wrote in to announce that version 1.03 of his RPG system Hephaestus (screenshot) has been released. It is written in Java, supports custom adventures written in a scripting language, and is released as shareware.

A.T. Hun from The Haus wrote in to let us know that he has posted a review of relnev’s Quake2 source port. The review covers the eased setup and install procedure, compiling, configuration, and timedemo results.